Day 17: Mounting Frustration

I was trying to keep this in the back of my head, but I know I have to confront it sooner or later.

CBC News: Passengers of collapsed discount airline Zoom seek new flights
CBC News: Lobster business reeling from Zoom collapse
BBC News: Musicians caught in Zoom collapse
BBC News: Flights low note for male choir

My flight home from Paris in late September doesn’t exist anymore, thanks to Zoom’s announcement. I had already known about the news since Thursday night (Irish time), but when the travel agent with whom I booked the flights e-mailed me about it, and it was marked URGENT, I knew this was big. And just as big will be finding something remotely cheap to replace my Zoom flight. And one-way flights are not remotely cheap.

I spent Friday in Westport, a nice-enough small town in northwestern Ireland. One of the first things I did was to find a travel agency to give me an idea of the prices, and it’s not looking good – €1600 (CAD 2500)!

In the intervening five hours or so between when I leave my Westport hostel and I board my bus to Achill Island, I will have to contact my credit card company to request a “denial of service” refund. But I’m not letting this get me down. It’s a few days away yet, and I certainly wouldn’t mind another few days (or weeks) exploring France…

Next: a few relaxing days on another island.

Day 15: Am I in Belfast?

Sorry, no pictures again, but hopefully there’s a bit more flexibility with internet access when I get to County Mayo.

Before I leave Belfast, I just have to point out two things that remind me of home. The first is that Northern Ireland’s public transport network is run by Translink (always with a small l). The second is the presence of Tim Hortons coffee. Yes, a chain of convenience shops sells Tim Ho. It must be the presence of a hockey team, the Belfast Giants, and its contingent of Canadian ex-pats. A visitor’s guide tells me about the hockey team, and an advert for a “Canadian-style” bar at their home arena, but no mention of whether it’s in a league.

And a number of Vancouver streets, on either side of Knight Street, are named after places in Scotland: Ross, Inverness, Culloden, Lanark, Dumfries, Argyle.

I haven’t spoken to many Canadians so far in my travels. There were a couple from Victoria who were on the same train and ferry to Skye on the way to a wedding in Edinburgh, and two others from Montreal. The rest were mainly from France, Australia, or China. A surprising number of them were attending conferences in the cities where they were staying, which is quite interesting to me.

After I finish my breakfast (something lighter on my body than yesterday’s Ulster Fry), I have to pack and make it to the bus station for the cross-country trek to County Mayo, which is where my next communiqué should come from.

Day 14: Ulster Fry

The title of the post represents a heart-attack-inducing traditional Belfast breakfast: two pieces each of potato bread and soda bread, two sausages, bacon, fried egg, and tomato. Photos to come, because it takes too long to upload them, and I only have a limited amount of internet (£3.00 for an hour that I’m intending to spread out until I leave Belfast the next morning).

Day 14?! I’ve already passed the one-third mark of the trip. I think I’m bearing it well after two weeks on the road, even though I’m starting to forget what day of the week it is, some hostel facilities leave much to be desired, and I’m still not looking the correct way when I cross the street (because the British and Irish drive on the left-hand side, one first has to look to the right before crossing). But it’s all about the experience, right? It has been a great experience in Scotland: the culture of Glasgow, the majestic nature of Skye, the history and festive atmosphere of Edinburgh.

Now I have a week and a half in Ireland. Today (Wednesday), it’ll be a daytrip to Armagh for the requisite religious component, then across the island to County Mayo, and back again to Dublin. If there’s another thing I’ve learned, it’s to steel myself for these long transition days going between places. Off I go, but first I’m going to try and finish this Ulster Fry…

Day 11: I’m still here!

I’m now in Edinburgh, and if the crowds I faced the day before on my way to my hostel are any indication, then I should be ready for London and Paris at the end of the trip.

So what’s happened in the week since the last post? The highlight has to be day 5, the West Highland Railway on the way to Isle of Skye. Whoever came up with “It’s not the destination, it’s the journey” must have ridden this train from Glasgow. The views were spectacular throughout, and I couldn’t put my camera away.

The middle photo is of the Glenfinnan viaduct, as seen in the Harry Potter films. After the train was a short ferry crossing to Skye. But no sooner had I picked up my jaw from the ground did I see these:

I hope I’m not being blasphemous, but Skye is like God’s country. It was so beautiful, so peaceful, I just wish I could have stayed there forever. Indeed, I left Skye almost begrudgingly, knowing that anything after that would be a complete comedown.

Day 8 included another train ride, this time to Inverness, and the scenery just about matched that of the first trip. When I arrived I got my first frustrating moment. I came out of Inverness train station with no map and a scant one-line direction telling me how to get to the hostel. I got lost and it started to rain. I ended up finding it, but I took a long circuit that was completely unnecessary. My spirits did pick up when I observed a pub quiz that took place later that night. I’ve heard of pub quizzes, but finally seeing one made me want to participate in one, definitely when I get back to Vancouver. (Anyone know if there are any?)

One last thing for now: it’s interesting to see all the Gaelic (pronounced locally as “gallic”) in the Highlands and on Skye. If I heard it, I wouldn’t have known. Sometimes the Gaelic-to-English translation is obvious, but others aren’t so much.

(That’s Bank of Scotland to you)

Day 4: Glasgow Wrap

I decided to stay four nights in Glasgow for two reasons: 1) I know the first day will be a write-off, what with the jet-lag and all, and 2) Sunday travel on my next destination, the Isle of Skye, is almost impossible once I get there.

All those free museums! I basically spent my time in Glasgow saving money. And what a collection of museums with free admission! The Hunterian Museum, Museum of Transport, Kelvingrove, St Mungo, Glasgow Cathedral, GoMA: that’s basically the best of the best in Glasgow, and it’s free admission, all day, everyday. I’ve been reminded of a conversation I had before I left, how many places open their museums for free, but Vancouver doesn’t have many, if there are any at all.

Another comparison I want to make is the pedestrian mall on Sauchiehall and Buchanan Streets. On the days I visited, it was packed full of people. How about doing the same for Downtown Granville once the RAV line is done, and leave the buses on Seymour and Howe?

And since we’re matching pop-culture references to my trip, here’s one I found at Glasgow Cathedral:

Next: a magical train ride to Skye!

Day 2: Jet-lagged to hell

I’m typing this up Friday morning, Glasgow time. I think the jet lag has eased, but the last 36 hours or so were brutal.

I knew I was in trouble as soon as the plane left Calgary to pick up more passengers. It left at 19:30 Wednesday, or 03:30 Thursday, Glasgow time. Given the time to eat dinner (thankfully while Iron Man was playing on the screen), there weren’t a lot of hours to sleep on the plane. Even though I had no one next to me, I couldn’t quite get the hang of sleeping while seated. I may have closed my eyes, but that was about the extent of it. The fact that the plane flew over Greenland and Iceland likely meant that it never got quite dark as the plane traveled.

Needless to say, by the time I deplaned and cleared customs, I was starting to feel it. I definitely felt it when I did the long trudge toward my hostel. I arrived too early to check in, but the staff were gracious enough for me put my pack away and access the common room, where I promptly crashed. Once I got up to my room, I took a long nap, and that helped in the recovery.

Some pix, starting with my plane soon after it landed in YVR:

The plane had a real-time indicator of where we were on the flight; here, we had already flew past Iceland:

And one of the many signs that greeted us as we left the plane:

Day 0: Waiting at the airport

Here we go: I’ve checked in, and I’m typing this in front of the plane I will be boarding in an hour or so (and thanks to Miss 604 for posting about YVR’s free wifi, without which I won’t be able to post this from my own laptop).

I may have booked my flight to the UK two months ago, but it took a very long time for me to get to this point. There were several points in the last few years when I could have dropped everything and taken a trip, but life usually intervenes, be it school, work, or other unexpected events that derail those plans, but only temporarily. If I had all the time and money, then I could just travel all the time. But that just isn’t the case, sadly.

Nevertheless, I’m starting to get excited about this trip. The next 38 days will be a whirlwind, but I’ll try and stop and keep you posted on where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing.